Pro Bono Publico
by Arborvitae
Summary: Hermione is sent back in time to prevent the deaths of Lily Evans and James Potter. (Probably going to be quite a lot of drama. I haven't worked out the central plot yet. Hermione/Sirius. Title is Latin for "for the public good".)


Hermione Granger was a true stickler for punctuality. She prided herself in being one of the few people capable of showing up exactly on time for an occasion, and she genuinely felt upset whenever she didn't adhere to her typically accurate timing. Of course, she tended to overlook imperfections in notifying or scheduling on another person's part; instead, Hermione took her tardiness as a personal flaw and felt shame where an average person may have felt casual indifference. The teenaged witch herself wasn't quite sure whether that was due to inherent Gryffindor pride or a deeper longing for perfection, although she honestly wasn't the type to have deep, one-sided discussions about her own penchant for timeliness, especially when she was running late for a "highly important" meeting with the Headmaster.

The witch was completely clueless when it came to what the meeting was about, which was strange because Hermione was very good at deciphering situations. She had, however, been told explicitly by Headmaster Dumbledore to keep quiet about their meeting, which was very strange. Originally, Hermione was certain that he merely wanted to discuss her Head Girl duties, but if so, the Head Boy (much to Hermione's chagrin, this meant Draco Malfoy) would have been present at the meeting as well.

Because she was meant to be silent about her gathering with the Headmaster, Hermione had been forced to feign illness during dinner in order to get away; she had only half-successfully pulled this off with a series of coughs and several choked sneezes until Harry and Ron started rambling about Quidditch and Hermione had managed to wordlessly slip past them. She had no doubt that they were wondering where she had gone off to, but Hermione was hoping that they believed her act and figured that she was asleep in the girls' dormitories with a bad case of the head cold. It was not uncommon for her to miss dinner, anyway; she was Hermione Granger, and she had to set an honorable example for the ickle firsties by skipping mealtimes and wandering off to the library to solve various Arithmancy problems. Similarly, Draco Malfoy was expected to be an older brother figure, but he was no Charlie Weasley and so abused his position of power by picking on Slytherins and Gryffindors alike. Hermione was rather impressed that he had slightly varied his target audience and choice of insults; instead of referring to Muggleborns as "mudbloods", he chose to take a more classic approach with the formerly popular, but now seldom used, "filthy scum". Naturally, Draco had never really gotten over third year's face-whupping, and so he avoided Hermione whenever possible, which meant that Dumbledore never really had that many Head meetings anymore.

Now, however, Hermione was dashing through the corridors, her face flushed and her breathing heavy as she scoured the castle in search of Dumbledore's office. It was stupid of her to have forgotten the location, even more so due to her position as Head Girl, but Hermione was quite limited with her knowledge of the castle minus the information available in Hogwarts: A History and her various adventures with Harry and Ron. Other than Hogwart's vast library and the Gryffindor common room, Hermione had no idea where she was going half the time. It really was a miracle that she was able to make it to all her classes on time, but Hermione knew that was because her sub-conscience was steering her body in the right direction.

'There it is,' Hermione thought as her eyes zoomed in on a spiral, winding staircase that she knew she had to climb in order to reach the Headmaster's office. Hermione groaned inwardly; her legs were already sore from the time she had spent running all over the castle in search of the office. Still, the witch refused to voice her complaints and kept silent as she trudged upstairs. Within several minutes, Hermione found herself face to face with a rather unpleasant looking gargoyle, its stone face fixed in a disapproving frown. She couldn't help but make a comparison to an annoyed McGonagall, which disgruntled Hermione even more as she tried to catch her breath.

The gargoyle's face moved slowly, its head turning to face Hermione as its mouth creaked open and uttered a soft, "Password?" Hermione stared blankly at the figure in response. She couldn't have possibly forgotten the password! She was Hermione Granger, Head Girl, Gryffindor lionness, and...she knew the password. Of course she did. Hermione shook her head for a suitable answer until she seemed to finally come up with something.

"Chocolate frog," Hermione replied, her voice confident but her expression sheepish. The gargoyle's head turned once again, its disapproving face back in order as it stepped aside and allowed Hermione to enter. She sighed in relief, thanking the gargoyle as she proceeded to knock on ornate oak doors. While she knew Dumbledore was expecting her, she didn't want to seem rude by entering without the Headmaster's permission. Within a couple of moments, she heard a jovial voice telling her to come in. Hermione obliged, opening the oak doors and stepping in the Headmaster's office.

She had been in this room many times before and so was not surprised when she was met with a tall, white-haired man sitting at his desk. His robes were a bright yellow color, slightly annoying but cheerful, and a slight smile was present on his face. The witch smiled uneasily in return, sitting down at a leather armchair facing opposite the Headmaster. Her thoughts were brought back to the situation at hand; what, exactly, was she here for?

Hermione waited for the Headmaster to say something, but his face remained impassive as he pushed a tray of lemon drops towards her. She reached for one out of politeness, popping it into her mouth and cringing at the taste. She never had particularly liked lemon drops.

"I assume you have heard of the recent murders," Dumbledore stated with a flourish of his hand. Hermione nodded; Katie Bell's parents and little brother had been killed. This wasn't a comfortable topic of discussion for the young witch, as it could have easily been her in Katie's situation. Dumbledore seemed unaware of this, or perhaps he didn't care, for his words continued in a similar path. "There have been 54 murders in the last month alone."

Hermione nodded again, shooting a glance at the Headmaster. She was perfectly aware of the statistics.

"Voldemort will win this war," Dumbledore said blankly, his eyes momentarily losing their twinkle. Hermione was taken aback by his statement; how could Voldemort possibly win when they had the most powerful wizard of their time on their side?

"Headmaster, Harry and I have stayed up nights researching Horcruxes. We already are certain of the location of Hufflepuff's locket."

Dumbledore smiled eerily, but the look in his eyes was grave. "Miss Granger, researching Horcruxes will do you no good. Voldemort will win this war," he repeated. Hermione stared at him, agape. In her silence, Dumbledore chose to continue. "Do you know what this is, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore reached into the pockets of his robes and took out a sparkling golden necklace, but instead of a gem hanging from it, there hung an hourglass. Hermione gulped.

"That's a Time Turner, Headmaster."

"Correct, Miss Granger," Dumbledore said, turning to face the witch head on. "I want you to use this to go back to 1977. You must prevent Voldemort from killing Lily and James Potter. Do you understand?" Hermione sputtered, her entire face turning crimson.

"Headmaster, how will that help our situation?"

"Miss Granger, the Potters are vital to the destruction of Voldemort. You must go back to their Hogwarts years and protect them."

Hermione couldn't believe what she was hearing. She wasn't prepared to sacrifice her livelihood for Dumbledore's skewed greater good! Hermione's eyes narrowed. "Headmaster, Time Turners only turn back hours." Dumbledore smiled, handing the necklace to Hermione. She scanned the surface of the hourglass, recognition dawning on her. This Time Turner didn't measure hours. It measured years.

She held the Time Turner in the palm of her hand, her eyes glimmering with curiosity. "How will I get back? And how will you recognize me?"

Dumbledore furrowed his eyebrows. "Miss Granger, you won't be able to get back."

"...Headmaster!" She managed to scream out. Was he suggesting she never see her best friends again? Hermione looked into the eyes of the Headmaster, and she knew he was dead set. He said that Voldemort would win this war. But how? And why her?

Hermione glanced at Dumbledore's iridescent blue eyes once more, and as he nodded to her, Hermione felt tears well up in her eyes. Was this it? Was she prepared to leave Harry and Ron forever? For the greater good?

It was always Harry or Voldemort, wasn't it? Harry or Voldemort. Hermione felt a salty tear streak down her cheek as she placed the Time Turner on her neck and turned it. One, two, twenty times. Twenty years back in time. Hermione closed her eyes and said goodbye to her world.

* * *

**Author's Note: **This is the first story I have written in a long time. I apologize if it is completely terrible, and no, I am not entirely certain how this is going to go. I'd really appreciate any reviews: positive or negative. Constructive criticism is always needed, no matter how hard it is to hear it. I'll try to update each week, if possible. No, I do not have a Beta reader, but feel free to suggest one if you're up for it. Also, I may be holding a title contest to see if any of you can come up with a better title than the one I have up currently, so leave a review telling me which title would be best for this story!


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